The Numbers for the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Caution Recap:
1 - fewest cautions (three times, most recent 4/25/71)
1 - fewest cars on lead lap at finish (27 times, most recent 4/27/86)
1 - fewest lead changes (three times, most recent 4/9/61)
2 - fewest leaders (11 times, most recent 9/26/76)
3 - fewest caution laps (4/25/71)
4 - fewest laps led by race winner (John Andretti, 4/18/99)
4 - fewest running at the finish (5/6/51); 35 cars started the 200-lap race on .500-mile dirt track
4 - number of jet dryers available for track drying this weekend
11 - cautions in last year's spring race
14 - most leaders (10/15/01)
15 - most wins by driver (Richard Petty)
19 - races won from the pole
21 - most cautions for a race (10/21/07)
26 - most cars on the lead lap at finish (twice, most recent 10/22/06)
29 - cautions for two races last year: 11 for the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 and 18 for TUMS Fast Relief 500
42 - most running at finish (two times, most recent 4/1/07)
46 - different race winners
56 - different pole winners
90 - minutes, amount of time it takes to dry the .526-mile track after a significant rainfall.
126 - Sprint Cup races at Martinsville Speedway since 1949
127 - most caution laps (10/21/07)
493 - most laps led by race winner (Fred Lorenzen, 9/27/64)2012 Caution Update
31 - cautions in the first five Sprint Cup races; 45 after five races last year
16 of 31 - cautions have been for accidents; 25 of 45 for accidents last year
166 of 1,410 laps completed have been under caution; 211 of 1,487 in 2011
227.617 of 1,742.000 miles completed have been under caution; 307.881 of 1,899.000 in 2011BONUS: Nine Virginia tracks have hosted 274 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races (does not include convertible events) through the years dating back to the early 1950s. Two tracks remain on the schedule - Martinsville (126) and Richmond (111). Of the seven tracks that are no longer on the Sprint Cup calendar, Boston Speedway hosted 10 events, Langley Field Speedway nine and Old Dominion Speedway seven. The other four tracks had a total of 11 races.(Darnell Communications for SRT Motorsports & Dodge)(3-29-2012)

Martinsville Speedway History and Notes:
· Opened in September 1947 by H. Clay Earles, Martinsville, originally a dirt track, is one of the oldest continuously-operating race tracks in the United States.
· The first NASCAR-sanctioned race at Martinsville was on July 4, 1948.
· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was Sept. 25, 1949.
· The track was paved in 1955.
· The first 500-lap event at Martinsville was in 1956.
· Concrete corners were added atop asphalt in 1976.
· There have been 126 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway, one in the inaugural year and two races per year since 1950.
· Curtis Turner won the pole for the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville in 1949.
· Red Byron won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
· 56 drivers have won poles, led by Darrell Waltrip with eight. Jeff Gordon, with seven poles, can tie that mark this weekend.
· Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Darrell Waltrip share the consecutive pole record, each with three.
· 46 different drivers have won, led by Richard Petty's 15.
· Jeff Gordon leads active drivers with seven wins. Jimmie Johnson has six and Denny Hamlin has four.
· 19 races have been won from the pole, the last by Denny Hamlin in October 2010.
· Petty Enterprises has won 19 races, more than any other organization. Hendrick Motorsports, with 18 wins, can tie that mark this weekend.
· Kurt Busch won the 2002 fall race from the 36th starting position, the furthest back a race winner has started.
· Three active drivers average a top-10: Jimmie Johnson (5.4), Denny Hamlin (6.4) and Jeff Gordon (6.8).
(NASCAR)(3-27-2012)

RACE RUNDOWN....news and links

Newman wins at Martinsville:#39-Ryan Newman won the Goody's Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway for his 1st win of the year, his first at Martinsville, and 16th win of his career.
#22-Allmendinger finished 2nd (his career best finish) followed by #88-Earnhardt, Jr., #17-Kenseth, #56-Truex, Jr., #11-Hamlin, #14-Stewart, #43-Almirola, #2-Keselowski, and #15-Bowyer.
The race ended after a second green-white-checker attempt. #24-Gordon and #48-Johnson led the race on the first restart, but had stayed out on old tires. #15-Bowyer got a good jump on the start to move up along Gordon in turn one, pinching the cars together and setting off a spin by Gordon and Johnson. Gordon then ran out of gas before the final restart and finished 14th. Johnson finished 12th.
The pole sitter, #5-Kahne, didn't lead a single lap and spent numerous laps behind the wall before falling out of the race with a blown engine. He finished 38th.
There were 7 cautions for 56 yellow flag laps. There were 19 lead changes among 10 drivers. The estimated attendence was 63,000, up from 60,000 in 2011.
See race results, awards, money won, laps led, cautions and more on the Martinsville Race Results page (pdf) and the official rundown on the Official Race Report.
(4-1-2012)

Race Fast Facts - Martinsville:
Ryan Newman won the 63rd Annual Goody's Fast Relief 500, his 16th victory in 374 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2012.
This is his first victory and 11th top-10 finish in 21 races at Martinsville Speedway.
AJ Allmendinger (second) posted his second top-10 finish in ten races at Martinsville Speedway. It is his first top-10 finish in 2012.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (third) posted his 14th top-10 finish in 25 races at Martinsville Speedway.
Greg Biffle leads the point standings by 6 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The race featured the fewest cautions (7) at Martinsville since Sept. 22, 1996 (7).(NASCAR Statistics)(4-1-2012)

Martinsville Notes-n-Nuggets:
" Ryan Newman earned his 16th victory in his 374 career race. Newman's last victory was a New Hampshire in July 2011.
" This is Ryan Newman's first victory at Martinsville in his 21st start.
" Ryan Newman becomes the 47th driver to win at Martinsville in 127 races.
" Ryan Newman is the fifth different winner of 2012.
" Stewart-Haas Racing earned its 16th victory, second victory at Martinsville and third victory of 2012.
" Chevrolet earned its third victory of 2012 and 49th victory at Martinsville, tops among manufacturers.
" AJ Allmendinger (second) scored a career-best finish in his 158th start.
" Dale Earnahrdt Jr. (third) has top-10 finishes in the past four Martinsville races.
" Matt Kenseth (fourth) earned his third top-five finish in his 25th Martinsville start.
" Martin Truex Jr. (fifth) has top-10 finishes in four of the past five races of the season.
" Denny Hamlin (sixth) earned his 12th top-10 finish in his 14th Martinsville race.
" Aric Almirola (eighth) scored his third career top-10 finish in his 41st start.
" Jeff Gordon (14th) led the most laps (328). This is only the second time he has led more than 300 laps in a race and failed to win.
(Racing Recall/nascar.com)(4-1-2012)

Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Goody's Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway have been made.
Pole sitter #5-Kahne chose pit stall 1 [as do most pole sitters].
Outside pole sitter #29-Harvick took pit stall 11, the next pitstall with an opening in front of it.
#11-Hamlin, who starts 3rd took the 10th pit stall, the 1st stall with an opening behind it.
The 43rd and final pit stall was taken by #47-Labonte, who starts 16th.
To see where the drivers/teams pit stall is, see the pit selection chart on the Pit Stall Selection chart.(3-31-2012)

NASCAR Green-White-Checkered Race Procedure: NASCAR allows a maximum of three restart attempts prior to the White Flag under NASCAR's Green-White-Checkered flag finish. If the leader has taken the White Flag and the caution flag is displayed, the field is frozen and the race will not be restarted. Previously, there was only one restart attempt. The procedure applies to all three national series. See rule and notes on the Green-White-Checker rule page.

Wave-around rule: The wave-around rule dictates that cars under penalty at the time of the caution are ineligible for the wave around.

Kahne wins pole at Martinsville: #5-Kasey Kahne won the pole for the Goody's Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway with a speed of 97.128mph for his 2nd pole of 2012 and 24th career pole. #29-Harvick was 2nd fastest followed by #11-Hamlin, #15-Bowyer, #39-Newman, #55-Vickers, #2-Keselowski, #18-Busch, #24-Gordon, and #20-Logano. #37-Raines' time, which was fast enough to make the race, was disallowed after the team failed post-qualifying tech.
The go-or-go homers who made the race (8): #98-McDowell, #26-Wise, #83-Cassil, #23-Riggs, #74-Sorenson, #87-Nemechek, #30-Stremme, and #49-Yeley.
The go-or-go homers who failed to qualify for the race (3): #52-Speed, #19-Bliss, #37-Raines.
See qualifying results, pole pregression, starting lineup on my Qualifying Results / Starting Lineup or the starting lineup on the Starting Lineup page (pdf).
(3-31-2012)

Qualifying Fast Facts - Martinsville Speedway:
Kasey Kahne won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 63rd Annual Goody's Fast Relief 500 with a lap of 19.496 seconds, 97.128 mph.
This is his 24th pole in 294 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his second pole and fifth top-10 start in 2012.
This is his first pole in 17 races at Martinsville Speedway. His previous best start at Martinsville was second in 2005.
Kevin Harvick (second) posted his fourth top-10 start of 2012 and his 11th in 22 races at Martinsville Speedway.
Denny Hamlin (third) posted his eighth top-10 start at Martinsville Speedway. It is his second in six races this season.
Josh Wise (30th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR Statistics)(3-31-2012)

Qualifying Order for the Goody's Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway is posted. 46 cars/drivers are listed.
The first of the drivers scheduled to go out is #3-Sadler, slowest in practice.
The final driver scheduled to go out is #24-Gordon, who was fastest in first practice.
Qualifying order is set by the first practice session, with slowest driver going out by speed and the fastest going out last. The non-top 35 drivers are now mixed in with the top-35 in owners points, slowest to fastest.
See the full qualifying order on the Martinsville Qualifying Page.(3-30-2012)

Rain Out Procedures: the rain-out qualifying procedure for all three NASCAR national series is as follows: If first practice is run, but qualifying is unable to take place, the starting lineup will be based on speeds from the car's fastest lap from the first practice, with top-35 cars in owner points no longer segregated from the non-top 35 cars. Previously, the top 35 cars lined up in front of all other eligible car owners.

Happy Hour practice for the Goody's Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway is over after 90 schedule minutes, the top five fastest, slowest, notes:
#24-Gordon 97.028
#51-Busch 95.937
#2-Keselowski 95.728
#39-Newman 95.550
#30-Stremme 95.463
slowest: #32-Schrader 93.079 & #93-Kvapil 92.906
See fastest speeds, best ten-lap averages, laps run and more on the Martinsville Happy Hour Practice Speeds (pdf), no average speeds all laps and NOT changing back to the old way, just posting the pdf's.(3-30-2012)

Camping, Eating andTravel Info

PAINT SCHEME NEWS

Some Chassis Selections by Teams for this race

Chassis selections for the Goody's Fast Relief 500: see the list of many teams and what chassis were selected by the team to run at Martinsville Speedway:MISSING? why are some teams missing? like the #11, #24 or others? those teams do not report what chassis in the race previews or prs.#1-Jamie McMurray: Crew Chief Kevin "Bono" Manion and the No.1 Belkin team will bring Chassis #1210 to Martinsville Speedway this weekend. This is a brand new chassis.#5-Kasey Kahne: For the April 1 race, crew chief Kenny Francis has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-651. Built in 2011, Mark Martin drove this car in both Martinsville races last year, collecting a top-10 finish in April.#9-Marcos Ambrose: The No. 9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 754 for the 500-lap race at Martinsville Speedway. This DEWALT Ford Fusion ran in both Martinsville races last season.#10-David Reutimann: will pilot the No. 297 chassis, which he also drove at Phoenix International Raceway this season. TBR debuted chassis No. 297 with Blaney at Texas Motor Speedway in November 2011. Blaney also piloted the chassis at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the 2011 NSCS Season Finale where he finished 28th. TBR purchased the chassis from Richard Childress Racing during the 2011 season.#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-587: This car made its debut in March 2010 at Martinsville, where it qualified fifth and finished 26th. Prior to Martinsville, Chassis No. 14-587 never turned a wheel on the racetrack. With a new body honed in the wind tunnel, it was tested at The Milwaukee Mile June 1 in preparation for its second career start in June at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. There, Chassis No. 14-587 earned a hard-fought second-place finish, for after starting 25th, it fell to 33rd after a lap-36 pit miscue on the team's first stop. Two late-race cautions allowed Stewart to regain his lost track position, and with a savvy two-tire pit call, Stewart wheeled Chassis No. 14-587 to pass second-place Kurt Busch on the penultimate lap. The car returned to New Hampshire for the first event of the 10-race Chase for the Championship, where in its third career start, it qualified third before leading three times for 100 laps. But while leading with less than two laps to go, it ran out of fuel. Stewart coasted around the 1.058-mile oval for the final circuit of the 300-lap race and finished 24th. Chassis No. 14-587 revisited Martinsville for round six of the Chase, where it qualified sixth and rallied back from two pitroad miscues during the race, but a flat right-front tire with less than 10 laps remaining relegated it to a 24th-place finish. With another new body, this car made its first start of 2011 and fifth overall at Phoenix in February. It started 18th and led four times for 59 laps before an ill-timed caution period late in the race jettisoned solid pit strategy and left it with a seventh-place finish. Chassis No. 14-587's second start of 2011 came at Richmond back in April, where it qualified 31st and rallied its way to a ninth-place finish. The car sat idle until returning to Richmond in early September for it seventh career start, where it logged its third straight top-10 finish. In its final start of 2011, Chassis No. 14-587 went out on top. The site was Martinsville in late October, where it started fourth, nearly fell off the lead lap midway through the 500- lap race, and overcame an unscheduled pit stop on lap 415 to replace a perceived flat tire. Stewart used Chassis No. 14-587 to rally his way from 20th to take the lead from Jimmie Johnson on a restart with three laps to go. When the checkered flag dropped, Stewart had his third Sprint Cup win at Martinsville and was on his way to his third career Sprint Cup championship. This weekend, Chassis No. 14-587 makes its ninth career start, its fourth at Martinsville and first of 2012 in Sunday's Goody's Fast Relief 500.#15-Clint Bowyer: The No. 15 5-hour ENERGY team will race chassis No. 701 at Martinsville. Chassis No. 693 will serve as the backup. Both chassis are new in 2012.#16-Greg Biffle: Primary: RK-807 - Brand new chassis; Backup: RK-759 - Last ran Phoenix as the No. 6 - finished 33rd#17-Matt Kenseth: Primary: RK-790 (Last ran at Martinsville, Oct. 2011)#22-A.J. Allmendinger: and his Todd Gordon-led Penske Racing No. 22 Team will be racing their new "PRS-819" Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger this weekend at Martinsville. The "PRS-807" is the backup Dodge Charger for the "Double-Deuce" team. It was in the transporter serving as the backup at Phoenix and at Bristol, but has never seen any track time.#27-Paul Menard: will pilot Chassis No. 349 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This No. 27 Chevrolet was last seen on track at Martinsville in October 2011 where Menard finished 24th after starting in the 21st position.#29-Kevin Harvick: will pilot Chassis No. 320 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in this weekend's Goody's Fast Relief 500. This former No. 33 racer was transformed to a No. 29 entry during the off-season and will turn its first competitive laps as a Budweiser is Back Chevrolet during Friday's opening practice session.#31-Jeff Burton: will race chassis No. 329 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable this weekend. This No. 31 Chevrolet, originally built in 2010, has seen significant track time over the last two seasons including Texas Motor Speedway in Nov. 2010 (started-16th, finished-36th), Bristol Motor Speedway in Aug. 2011 (started-21st, finished-15th) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Sept. 2011 (started-18th, finished-13th). Burton also tallied a top-five finish at Phoenix International Raceway last November, finishing fourth after starting 14th.#36-Dave Blaney: will pilot chassis No. 78 this weekend. In the 2011 season, he drove the chassis in the Martinsville fall event where he finished 23rd and at six other events. His best finish in the chassis was 19th at Richmond International Raceway last fall.#39-Ryan Newman: Chassis No. 39-645: This will be the fifth start for Chassis No. 39-645, its first this season and its third start at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The chassis made its first start last April at Martinsville, where Newman started second and finished 20th, two laps down. Newman led three laps and was in the top-10 for much of the first 300 laps of the 500-lap race, but a broken header pipe and a flat left-rear tire caused him to lose two laps. The next start for Chassis 39-645 was in July at New HampshireMotor Speedway in Loudon, where Newman started on the pole and led 119 of 301 laps en route to his 15th career Sprint Cup Series victory. The chassis returned to Loudon in September, when Newman again started on the pole and then led the first 62 laps before finishing a disappointing 25th. A cut tire with less than five laps remaining dropped Newman from 11th to 25th. The last on-track action for this chassis came at Martinsville last fall. Newman led 41 laps and recovered from a late-race spin and made up 10 spots in the race's final 25 laps to finish in the top-10. The car has been updated for the 2012 season and returns to action for the first time this weekend at Martinsville.#42-Juan Pablo Montoya: Crew Chief Chris Heroy and the No.42 Target team will bring Chassis #1207 to Martinsville Speedway this weekend. This is a brand new chassis.#43-Aric Almirola:: The No. 43 Smithfield Ford will be chassis number 736. The chassis was last used at Phoenix last November and the team finished sixth.#51-Kurt Busch: Chassis No. 524: This weekend's Goody's Fast Relief 500 will be the first race of the 2012 season for this chassis. The No. 51 Phoenix Racing team competed with this chassis at a number of short-track races during the 2011 season. Prior to the 2011 season, this chassis was used by the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team and driver Jeff Gordon.#55-Brian Vickers: will drive chassis 703 and chassis 694 will serve as a backup car. Neither has raced in 2012.#88-Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Crew chief Steve Letarte will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-654 for this weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway. This will be the third time that Earnhardt has raced this car, which he drove last season to a second-place finish at Martinsville in April and a seventh-place finish in October at Martinsville.#99-Carl Edwards: RK-791 - This car debuted at Martinsville last fall where it finished ninth
(from team PR's/sites if reported)(3-30-2012)

Notes: Teams in both NASCAR series will run the same tire codes at Martinsville this weekend, though the Sprint Cup tires will be branded "Goodyear Eagle," while the Camping World Truck tires will be branded "Goodyear Wrangler" . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that teams in both of these series ran at Martinsville last October . . . this right-side tire code (D-4468) is the same one Sprint Cup teams ran on all four tire positions at Watkins Glen in 2011 and will run at Infineon and Watkins Glen in 2012 . . . as on most NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, teams will not run inner liners in their tires at Martinsville.